ABOUT

Coloratura soprano, Penelope Kendros, grew up in the United States where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance at the University of Iowa under Dr. Rachel Joselson with private coaching from Shari Rhoads. Since moving to Vienna in 2015 for her Master’s degree at theMusic and Performing Arts University of Vienna under Professor Sylvia Greenberg with private coaching from David Aronson, Penelope has enjoyed a range of performance opportunities.

She has sung the roles of Despina (Così fan tutte/Mozart); Lucano (L’incoronazione di Poppea/Monteverdi) at the Trentino Music Festival in Italy; Barbarina (Le nozze di Figaro/Mozart) with Teatro Barocco/Austria; La Fée (Cendrillon/ Viardot) in Vienna; and Flora (The Turn of the Screw/ Britten) in the United States.

Penelope has participated in many training programs and festivals that have taken her all over the world, including The Trentino Music Festival, Eilat Chamber Music Festival, and iSING! Suzhou International Young Artists Festival. In China, Penelopeperformed on Shanghai TV for the National Day of the People's Republic of China, which was broadcast nationwide on October 6th, 2017.

In addition to operatic repertoire, Penelope enjoys premiering new music. She has appeared as the soprano soloist in exciting works including Kui Dong's California Shoreline and Eric McElroy's Stars in Stadtpark in Vienna, Austria. She also frequently collaborates with her uncle, Chicago-based composer, Jim Kendros, and was honored to have premiered his song cycle The Disappearance of Clouds for Soprano, Piano, and Hurdy-Gurdy.

In May 2017, Penelope won the International Fidelio Competition in Vienna, Austria and is a recipient of the Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now stipend.

Penelope looks forward to upcoming engagements, among them being the Street People Soprano Soloist in Bernstein's Mass in November 2018 at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria.